Harvard Business School

I was having tea with my good friend, Cynthia Roye; we were hanging in the Starbuck’s sun, catching up and talking about everything but the weather. “Cynthia, whatcha been doing?” I asked. Cynthia is a lady who knows the great devotions of philanthropy. She explained that recently she was involved in Administrative Professionals Week, there-by honoring the administrative staff at La Cañada High School. Administrative Professionals Week began in 1952 to honor office workers.

Jane Frost Rutherford Essen of La Cañada, born Aug. 24, 1919 in New York, passed on peacefully Aug. 9 at the Broadview Nursing Home in Los Angeles after a brief illness. Jane was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and relative of poet Robert Frost. She spent most of her early life on the East Coast, attending high school in Riverton, N.J. Jane graduated from Principia College in Illinois in 1941 and then moved to Boston to work for the Christian Science Monitor.

State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi will be speaking at a Business Breakfast at 8 a.m. Wed., Sept. 21 at Dish Restaurant. The event is sponsored by the La Canada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce & Community Association and open to the public, but seating is limited. Reservations are required and may be made by calling the Chamber office at 818-790-4289. Cost to attend (includes a full breakfast) is $15 for LCF Chamber members; $20 for non-Chamber members. You may pay be cash, check or credit card in advance or at the door.

Gary J. DiSano, 62, died Sept. 20, 2009. DiSano, President of the Tournament of Roses Association for the 121st Tournament of Roses Parade and 96th Rose Bowl Game chose the theme, "2010: A Cut Above the Rest" for the Jan. 1, 2010 Rose Parade. DiSano said about his theme, "the Tournament strives to put a Parade and Game together every year, which are better than the last, we look forward to exciting Pasadena and the world once again with our spectacle."

New board for local Foundation The Community Foundation of the Verdugos , formerly the Glendale Community Foundation, has elected Montrose resident Michael Velazquez , of Velazquez & Associates, as its 2009-’10 president. Vice president is Michael Deaktor , an attorney with Melby & Anderson, LLP. Stephen Bache , of Bache Capital Management is the new CFO, and Bob Knauf , of Arroyo Insurance, has taken on the office of secretary. “It is my distinct pleasure to serve as president of the Community Foundation of the Verdugos,” stated Velazquez.

O. Warren Hillgren, a civic leader and philanthropist in La Cañada Flintridge for four decades who was elected to the city's first council in 1976 and served four terms as mayor, has died. Hillgren passed away Monday evening at his La Cañada Flintridge home from complications of Parkinson's disease. He was 81. Hillgren, who was named along with his wife Mary Ellen as La Cañadans of the Year in 1982, had also served as chairman emeritus for the Verdugo Hills Hospital board of trustees, and president of the LCF Chamber of Commerce, and was instrumental in organizing the incorporation of the City of La Cañada Flintridge, shaping its initial direction and fiscal responsibility.

The stunned Navy pilot was gripped in pain, blood was pouring down his face and a good part of his warplane was destroyed. But worst of all, Ensign Kenneth Schechter couldn't see. An enemy shell had smashed into his Skyraider and fragments pierced his eyes. Hurtling over the Korean coast at 200 mph, Schechter was suddenly enveloped in blackness. "I'm blind! For God's sake, help me!" he cried into his radio. "I'm blind!" FOR THE RECORD: Kenneth Schechter: A news obituary in the Dec. 22 California section on Kenneth Schechter, a former Navy pilot who flew 100 miles and landed safely despite being temporarily blinded by enemy fire, misstated the final rank of Howard Thayer, the Navy pilot who guided Schechter from another plane.

I was having tea with my good friend, Cynthia Roye; we were hanging in the Starbuck’s sun, catching up and talking about everything but the weather. “Cynthia, whatcha been doing?” I asked. Cynthia is a lady who knows the great devotions of philanthropy. She explained that recently she was involved in Administrative Professionals Week, there-by honoring the administrative staff at La Cañada High School. Administrative Professionals Week began in 1952 to honor office workers.

Jane Frost Rutherford Essen of La Cañada, born Aug. 24, 1919 in New York, passed on peacefully Aug. 9 at the Broadview Nursing Home in Los Angeles after a brief illness. Jane was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and relative of poet Robert Frost. She spent most of her early life on the East Coast, attending high school in Riverton, N.J. Jane graduated from Principia College in Illinois in 1941 and then moved to Boston to work for the Christian Science Monitor.